Japanese textbooks of 1800s show Dokdo is not Japan’s territory

The Independence Hall of Korea Tuesday made public Japanese textbooks dating back to the 1800s, which indicate that Dokdo is not Japanese territory.

The publications included five geography textbooks for primary, middle and high school students and two maps for the public.

A map of Japan, which was published by Okamuru Matsudaro in 1887, indicates that islands off Japan are Japanese territory, and clearly shows that Ulleung Island and nearby Dokdo islets belong to Joseon, the old name for Korea.

Another map, which was published by the Japanese education ministry in 1905, shows Taiwan, colonized by Japan in 1894, and the Shima and Ryukyu islands are its territory.

The map, however, does not show Dokdo as such.

In 1905, Dokdo was incorporated into Shimane Prefecture in the neighboring country. However, geography textbooks for primary school students, which were published by the Japanese education ministry the same year, do not mention this.

Officials at the Independence Hall in Cheonan, South Chungchung Province, said historical records recovered indicate that Japan was not aware of Dokdo in the East Sea.

In addition, the textbooks show that Dokdo was not Japan’s territory.

Yoon So-young, a researcher at the hall, said, “The documents made public this time say that there was no evidence to back up Tokyo’s claim to Dokdo. They demonstrate that historically, the islets have always been Korea’s territory.”